Where the Fowl Fans Gather

Real World Locations

Over his adventures, Artemis has travelled to a fair few locations, all around the world. On this page, you’ll find a synopsis of each of them.

Ireland

Artemis’s home. It simply wouldn’t be right to start elsewhere. Ireland is a land shrouded in culture, with legends as interesting as any you’ll find. Notably, this is the home country of the author, Eoin Colfer, and the most popular creature in Irish folklore is the ‘leprechaun,’ proncounced ‘Lep-re-con.’ Artemis’s home, Fowl Manor, is somewhere in this country. Could the friendly nature of the country, and with a great mythology behind it, make Ireland the perfect location for the Artemis Fowl tale?

Tara

In the series, “Tara” is the exit location for the chute, ‘E1.’ In reality, it is the ancient Hill of Kings. It is believed that 142 Kings ruled Ireland from this hill, for thousands of years, until 1200AD. In Irish mythology, the mound is said to be the home of the Gods. The oldest structure on the hill dates back to 2500BC, the “Mound of Hostages.” Aside from this, there are a number of historical monuments dotted around the hill. For a detailed history of one of Ireland’ most famous locations, go to Mythical Ireland, the source of the photograph.

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Oh, hey! Holly here! I don’t know where Artemis is, but Minerva might. She has a book report due soon so she might be working on that!
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Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh, the first location in the Artemis Fowl series. It is here that Artemis first discovers the fairy race. Ho Chi Minh is a relatively new city, in that it has only been known as “Ho Chi Minh,” since 1 May 1975. Before that time it was known as “Saigon,” and was the capital of South Vietnam. The name “Ho Chi Minh” was chosen by the North Vietnamese, in honour of their leader who died during the Vietnamese war in which they won independence in the war against the United States. “Ho Chi Minh,” means “He Who Brings Light.” In this city, Artemis found the light, in the form of the knowledge of the fairy race. Furthermore, before leading the revolutionary forces in the Vietnamese war, Ho Chi Minh was a teacher, just as Eoin Colfer was before he became a full-time writer. Need further proof that Colfer chose this location for a reason? Well, Ho Chi Minh was not born with this name. He was originally called “Nguyen,” the name Colfer gave to Artemis’s informant.

Munich

Artemis may have been able to fool the security, and been able to steal a priceless piece of work, from one of their most secure vaults. In reality however, he is the only person who could pull this off. Munich is the capital of the German state of Bavaria, is the third largest city in Germany, and one of the most prosperous in Europe. This city is highly developed, and a technological hybrid. It is the location of the headquarters for numerous companies worldwide, including BMW (Shown right), Siemens, MTU Aero Engines, and Microsoft Germany.

Russia

The location used in “The Arctic Incident,” for probably the mission closest to Artemis’s heart. In the book, the most notable aspects were the cold, and the radioactivity. To put it simply, Russia is cold. Geographically, it is extremely far North, and so, is prone to cold weather, and has vast areas of snow and ice land. The radioactive areas are a product of nuclear testing, carried out by the “Soviet Union,” or “USSR,” during the ‘Cold War.’ Although this war never reached the point of open warfare, it involved a huge ‘arms race’ in which nuclear weapons were created, deployed, and almost used. The war ended however in 1989, after over forty years, with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia’s economy suffered great setbacks during the war, and more after the Soviet Union’s collapse, but today, helped by the rising oil prices, it is on the rise, with huge investments put into the country in recent years.

London England, and, Chicago USA

Two locations from, “The Eternity Code.” The first, London, is where the disasterous meeting between Artemis and Jon Spiro took place, and Chicago is the city of Spiro’s hradquarters, “The Needle.” These two locations are very similar, and were chosen for a similar reason in the book. The first, is close to Ireland, making it Artemis’s territory. London is a very large and wealthy city. It is the home to a huge number of businesses, and is the sort of city you might expect to find a cryogenics lab in. Chicago is a similar city, in that it is densely populated and highly prosperous. This city is simply layered with huge buildings scraping the sky, just as the “Spiro Needle,” in the series did.